


take the risk or live with the regret

by book_lover101



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Blushing, F/F, Fluff, Minor Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Nico di Angelo is a Good Friend, Secret Crush, Sibling Love, Teasing, Teen Crush, Will and Austin just want to help, light angst (kinda?)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28410240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/book_lover101/pseuds/book_lover101
Summary: Kayla has a crush on a girl from the Athena cabin. Will and Austin try to get her to tell her crush how she feels, but it doesn't go as they planned. Nico is a good friend and helps Kayla out.
Relationships: Kayla Knowles & Austin Lake & Will Solace, Kayla Knowles/Original Character(s), Nico di Angelo & Kayla Knowles
Kudos: 7





	take the risk or live with the regret

**Author's Note:**

> Just some Apollo sibling fluff because I decided Kayla and Austin deserve more love. Also Will is 100% an amazing older brother.
> 
> *Set between The Blood of Olympus and The Hidden Oracle

"Alright, what's going on with you Kayla?" Will asked as he returned from restocking the storage room in the infirmary. He got no response. "Hello? Earth to Kayla." Will said, waving his hand in front of Kayla's face.

Kayla snapped out of her thoughts. "Sorry, were you talking to me?" she asked Will.

"Yes, I was. What's up with you? You're never this distracted." Will sat down on the edge of the desk where Kayla sat with a stack of unfinished paperwork in front of her.

"She's been like this all day." Austin said. He was sitting at the other desk, his paperwork finished.

The three of them had the day off from working with campers in the infirmary. Capture the flag was tomorrow night, and there would inevitably be many campers in the infirmary, so they had been given the day to rest and work on paperwork.

"I'm fine." Kayla said, turning back to her paperwork. Will and Austin exchanged a look. They knew Kayla well enough to know that there was something on her mind.

Will stood up and closed the office door. He sat back down on Kayla's desk, and placed his hand on top of the paperwork. "Kayla, you know you can't lie to us." Will said.

Kayla looked up from the paperwork. "I said I'm fine, Will." Kayla said. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Kayla stood up and opened it to find Willow standing there.

Kayla's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the girl. Willow was one of the newer campers at Camp Half-Blood, a daughter of Athena with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. She had arrived only a few months ago, and Kayla had met her shortly after her arrival, when she was brought to the infirmary with a small wound from a monster attack on her way to camp.

"Hi Kayla." Willow said, a small smile on her face.

"Hey Willow. What can I do for you?" Kayla asked, her heart beating a little faster than normal.

"I was just wondering if you've seen Annabeth anywhere?" Willow asked. "Someone said they saw her walking over here."

"No, I haven't seen her." Kayla said. She looked over her shoulder at Will and Austin, and they both shook their heads. She turned back towards Willow. "Sorry. If I see her, I'll let her know you're looking for her."

"Thanks Kayla." Willow said, before waving goodbye and walking off down the hallway.

Kayla closed the door and sat back down to do her paperwork. But her mind kept wandering to Willow. The way her hair looked in it's usual braid, with a couple of loose strands framing her face. The way her brown eyes sparkled when she smiled.

"Kayla, you there?" Will asked, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

Kayla turned to face Will. "Yeah, sorry. Just thinking." she said.

Will raised his eyebrows. "About Willow, per chance?" he asked, a small smirk forming on his lips.

"What are you talking about?" Kayla asked.

Will and Austin exchanged a knowing look. "Kayla, you know you can't hide your emotions from us." Will said. "You like Willow, don't you?"

At the sound of the Athena camper's name, Kayla felt her cheeks begin to grow warm. She turned back to her paperwork, ignoring Will's question. Will reached across the desk and grabbed the paperwork from her. "Will, give that back." Kayla said, holding out her hand.

Will shook his head. "I'm not letting you use paperwork to avoid talking about your feelings." he said, setting the paperwork aside and out of Kayla's reach. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Kayla. You can trust us." 

"It's not that big of a deal you guys." Kayla said, reaching for her paperwork, but Will grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"If it's not that big of a deal, why won't you admit it?" Austin chimed in, moving his chair over to sit with Kayla and Will.

"Admit what?" Kayla asked, even though she knew that they wouldn't let her get out of this conversation.

"Admit that you like Willow." Austin said.

Kayla felt her cheeks heat up. "Guys, just drop it." she said, but Will and Austin continued to look at her expectantly. Kayla sighed in defeat. "Fine. I like Willow." she admitted.

"There you go! That wasn't so hard, was it?" Will said. 

Kayla allowed herself a faint smile, shrugging dismissively. "It doesn't really matter." she said. "It's not like anything is going to happen."

Will and Austin exchanged another look. "What do you mean Kayla?" Will asked.

"I mean there's no way anything is going to happen between us because It's not like I'm going to tell her that I like her. So it doesn't really matter what my feelings are towards her." Kayla said.

"Why aren't you going to tell her?" Austin asked, sounding confused.

"Because I don't know if she likes girls and I don't want to ruin my friendship with her." Kayla said.

"So you're not even going to give it a shot?" Will asked.

"No, I'm not Will." Kayla said, reaching for her paperwork again.

Will stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Kayla, why won't you at least try?" he asked.

Kayla shrugged his hand off. "I already told you guys." she said. "And I don't even like her that much anyways so just drop it, please."

"No, we're not going to drop it." Austin said. "You've got to stop running away from your feelings just because you're scared of what might happen."

"I'm not scared Austin." Kayla said, her tone growing angrier with each word.

"Yes, you are." Will said, his voice firm. "You're scared that you might ruin your friendship with her. You're scared that she doesn't like girls. Just stop denying the truth Kayla. You're so scared of being rejected that you won't even try. You've got to learn to-"

"Just shut up Will!" Kayla shouted, cutting him off. "Neither of you know what I'm scared of, so stop acting like you do! You don't know what's best for me! You don't know anything about me at all!"

Before either of them could say anything, Kayla stood and ran out of the infirmary. She ran as fast as she could with no particular destination in mind. She just wanted to get away from Will and Austin.

She didn't realize where she was until she stopped to catch her breath. She was on the beach, with Long Island Sound in front of her, and the rest of camp behind her. She sat down on a large rock on the shore and curled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She rested her forehead on her knees and began to sob.

Kayla wasn't sure how much time had passed when she heard a voice behind her ask, "are you alright?"

She turned to see Nico di Angelo standing behind her. "Hey Nico." she said, as he sat down next to her on the rock.

"Hey Kayla. Is everything okay?" Nico asked. 

Kayla started to answer, but she stopped and eyed Nico suspiciously. "Did Will send you to find me?" she asked.

"No, why?" Nico asked.

Before she could stop herself, Kayla told Nico the whole story. She told him about her crush on Willow and what had happened in the infirmary with Will and Austin. When she finished, she and Nico sat in silence for a few minutes.

Finally, Nico took a deep breath and turned to face her. "Are you scared?" he asked.

Kayla looked down at the rock they were sitting on. "Yeah, I am." she admitted. "I'm absolutely terrified Nico."

"Can I give you some advice, Kayla?" Nico asked.

Kayla looked up at him. "Sure." she said.

"It's okay to be scared." Nico said. "Especially when it comes to love. And especially in a situation like yours." Nico paused, letting Kayla process his words. "But when it comes to love, you have two choices: take the risk and tell the person you like how you feel, or don't tell them and live with the regret."

Kayla was silent for a minute. "I just don't know if I can do it." she said quietly. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to do it."

"You're definitely strong enough Kayla." Nico said. "And for what it's worth, I believe in you."

Kayla gave Nico a small smile. "Thanks Nico." she said.

"Anytime." Nico said.

Kayla suddenly remembered her outburst in the infirmary. "I should probably go find Will and Austin so I can apologize to them." Kayla said, standing up. "Thanks for the advice."

"Of course. And good luck with your girlfriend." Nico said, making Kayla blush.

"She's not my girlfriend." Kayla said.

"Not yet, but maybe soon." Nico said. Kayla just rolled her eyes playfully at him and walked back towards camp.

Instead of going to the infirmary, Kayla walked towards the Apollo cabin. She had a feeling Will and Austin would be there. She pushed open the door and walked inside. Sure enough, Will and Austin were sitting on Will's bunk.

"Hey, can I talk to you guys?" Kayla asked hesitantly, sitting on her bunk. Will nodded, and Kayla took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry for yelling at you guys." she said. "You were right, I am scared. And I didn't want you to know, so I panicked when you guys said something about it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get so upset with you."

Will and Austin sat down on either side of Kayla. "It's okay." Will said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "We forgive you. We know this is a scary thing for you, and we shouldn't have tried to push you like that."

"Yeah." Austin agreed. "We're sorry."

Kayla let a small smile form on her lips. "It's okay." she said, and Will and Austin pulled her into a hug.

"So, wanna tell us about this girl you like?" Will asked with a smirk. Kayla shook her head, her face growing hot.

"Awww, look at you getting all embarrassed!" Austin teased.

Kayla groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Why are you doing this to me?" she complained, but she couldn't stop her smile from growing.

"Because we want to know about your crush." Will said, playfully poking Kayla's side, making her flinch. An evil smile formed on Will's face, and he started tickling Kayla's sides.

"WILL!" Kayla squealed, before dissolving into giggles. She stopped covering her face with her hands, and began to try to push Will's hands away.

"Yes Kayla?" Will asked innocently, continuing to tickle her sides.

"Stop tickling me!" Kayla managed to say between giggles.

"I'll stop if you promise to tell us more about the girl you like." Will said. Austin joined in, tickling Kayla's ribs.

"Fine! I'll tell you!" Kayla said as she squealed with laughter. Will and Austin stopped, giving Kayla a chance to catch her breath. "What do you want to know?" Kayla asked.

"Well for starters, how long have you liked her?" Will asked.

Kayla felt her face flush. "About two months now." she admitted.

"What? Why didn't you tell us until today?" Austin asked incredulously.

Kayla shrugged. "I don't know. It just never came up I guess."

"What do you like about her?" Will asked, a playful smirk on his face.

Kayla's face grew warmer, and she couldn't help but smile to herself as she thought about Willow. "I don't know Will." she said. "I don't think it's anything in particular." They were all silent for a moment, before Kayla spoke again. "I think I'm going to tell her."

"Really?" Austin asked, and Kayla nodded.

"What made you change your mind?" Will asked.

"Nico gave me some good advice." Kayla said. She told them about her conversation with Nico, and about the advice he had given her.

Will smiled to himself. "He really is perfect." he said quietly.

Kayla smirked. "You're head over heels for him." she said, nudging Will playfully.

Will blushed, quickly changing the subject back to Kayla. "So, when are you going to tell her?" he asked eagerly.

Kayla shrugged. "I don't know." she said.

"I think you should tell her tonight." Austin said.

Will nodded in agreement. "And if it goes well, we'll be here to celebrate with you." he said. "And if it doesn't go well, we'll be here to comfort you." He pulled Kayla into a hug. "Just remember that we'll always be here for you." he said.

Austin joined their hug, and the three of them stayed that way until it was time for dinner. As the three of them made their way to the dining pavilion, Kayla saw Willow walking to dinner with her siblings. Her heart rate picked up at the sight of the daughter of Athena.

Throughout dinner, Kayla tried not to look at the Athena table. She barely touched her food, too nervous to eat anything. Dinner seemed to take forever. When it was finally over, campers began to wander out of the dining pavilion. Will and Austin gave Kayla reassuring smiles, and she walked over to the Athena table, where Willow was just standing up.

"Hey Kayla." Willow said, smiling at her.

Kayla smiled back. "Hey Willow. Can I talk to you about something?" she asked.

"Sure, what's up?" Willow asked.

Kayla looked around. There were still too many people around for her to be comfortable. "Can we go somewhere with less people?" she asked. Willow nodded, and the two girls walked out of the dining pavilion.

They ended up sitting on the same rock that Kayla had sat on earlier, when she talked to Nico. "So, what do you want to talk to me about?" Willow asked.

"Okay, this is really hard for me to say and I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I just need to get this off my chest." Kayla said. She took a deep breath and then continued. "I like you, Willow. As more than a friend."

For a moment, Willow didn't say anything. Kayla wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. Then, Willow smiled at her shyly. "Actually, I like you too Kayla." she said.

Kayla felt her stomach fill with butterflies. "Really?" she asked.

Willow nodded. "I wanted to tell you, but I was too nervous." she said.

Kayla took Willow's hand in her own. "Willow, will you go out with me?" she asked.

Willow's smile grew. Without saying anything, she leaned in and kissed Kayla. When she pulled away, she raised an eyebrow. "Is that enough of an answer for you?" she asked.

Kayla smiled. "It was more than enough of an answer." she said. She leaned in and kissed Willow, and when Willow kissed her back, her heart skipped a beat. After a while, Kayla and Willow walked back to the cabins. Kayla walked Willow to her cabin and gave her a hug. "I'll see you in the morning." Kayla said, before walking back to cabin 7.

When she entered the cabin, Will and Austin were sitting on her bunk, waiting expectantly. She didn't know where the rest of her siblings were, but she didn't have a chance to ask about it. "So how did it go?" Will asked, as she sat down on her bunk.

"Fine." Kayla said, trying to act casual.

Austin rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Come on Kayla, spit it out. What happened?" he asked eagerly.

"I told her how I felt." Kayla said.

"And does she feel the same way?" Will asked. Kayla nodded, and Will grinned. "Did you ask her out?" he asked. Kayla nodded again. "And did she say yes?" Will asked.

"Well, not exactly." Kayla said, her cheeks heating up. She told them what happened, and how Willow had kissed her.

When she finished, Will and Austin had identical smiles on their faces. "Awww! Kayla has a girlfriend!" Austin teased.

Kayla groaned, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow to hide her blushing cheeks. "Shut up Austin!" she said, her words muffled by her pillow. But Will and Austin could both tell she was smiling.

"Come on, you know we're just teasing." Will said, ruffling her hair. Kayla sat up and Will pulled her close to him. "I'm proud of you Kayla." he said.

"Me too." Austin said. He nudged Kayla's shoulder. "That was pretty brave of you."

"Thanks guys." she said.

"So, did you kiss her back?" Will asked, a sly smile on his face. Kayla blushed even brighter as she nodded, which made Will grin. "Look at you, getting all flustered over a girl." he teased. Kayla tried to hide her face in her hands, but Will grabbed her wrists to stop her. "Oh no you don't. You teased me so much about Nico. It's only fair that I get to tease you about Willow." At the sound of her girlfriend's name, Kayla felt her stomach fill with butterflies. She tried to keep herself from smiling, but she couldn't. Will smiled at her. "In all seriousness, I'm really happy for you." he said, wrapping an arm around her. "I like seeing you so happy."

They spent the rest of the night sitting on Kayla's bed, Austin and Will teasing Kayla about her girlfriend. When Nico came by later that night to see Will, he was just as excited about the news.

Kayla fell asleep that night with a smile on her face, happy that she had taken a risk and told Willow how she felt. That was one decision that she knew she wouldn't regret.


End file.
